With his distinctive art labels, wax seals and heavy Burgundy bottles, William (Bill) Downie's wines stick out on the Australia shelves of any wine shop. And so they should because this is a man, with Burgundy in his blood, that is showing Australian terroir at a higher quality, and not mass produced, level.
Producing Pinot Noir in different regions of Australia, Yarra, Gippsland and Mornington and now a Petit Manseng, he has a hands off approach and lets the grapes do all the work. But we wanted to know a bit more about this yellow Land Rover driving winemaker. He was asked six questions...
You lived and worked in Burgundy for a number of years. Is it there that your heart lies or is it in Australia?
I have, in the past, wished I had been born in Burgundy, but these days I'm happy to have my heart in Australia.
You make three Pinot Noirs, from Yarra, Gippsland and Mornington, all expressing the terroir of those areas. Have you any plans to go further along the Burgundian route and make, for example, smaller area wines or wines from particular microclimates or soil types expressing tiny areas terroir?
One day. For now it's hard enough for people outside of Australia to figure out where the regions are let alone individual vineyards. I've visited many place where people didn't even know that we grew Pinot Noir in Australia. I'm into small steps and hard work. The Burgundian route might be for my kids to follow.
Aside from Pinot Noir, what do you like drinking?
We're hopelessly unpatriotic wine drinkers. My wife used to work for Kermit Lynch so we drink a lot of wine from all over France. Jura, Rhone, Provence, Loire, Alsace etc. Pinot is probably less than 20% of our cellar.
What is the best, and worst, wine you have ever made?
I'm not sure I can answer that. I always have mixed feelings about our wines. We don't bottle the rubbish though, so the worst wines never make it into the public eye. There have been some pretty unfriendly barrels in the cellar over the years....
Who or what is your inspiration?
There have been lots of influences over the years but my wife Rachel inspires me ever day.
Name three people, real or fictional, living or dead, that would be your dream dinner party guests, and what would they be drinking?
Pierre Overnoy, Bailey Carrodus and Maurice O'Shea. Three true gentlemen and fine wine makers. We'd probably drink a '49 Rousseau Chambertin or an old bottle of Pierre's Vin Jaune.
With thanks to Liberty Wines
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